Tenants, landlords react as New York City board raises rent freeze possibility
BAY RIDGE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Rent freeze is a possibility for nearly a million rent-regulated New York City apartments following a preliminary vote on Thursday night.
This year, the Rent Guidelines Board's first vote, called for a 0-2% rent hike for one-year leases, and a 0-4% for two-year leases.
"This is our baby. We have to take good care of her," said landlord, Chris Athineos.
Athineos is the landlord at 8802 Ridge Blvd. It's a well-kept, 90-year-old building in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The prospect of a rent freeze, he says, is unfathomable.
"How can anyone with a straight face say 0%? I mean, propose 0% when everyone knows that they increase the taxes? Water and sewer are outrageous increases. Insurance is through the roof. Everything goes up, but the rents are supposed to be flat. Zero," Athineos said.
Some tenants said even a rent freeze is insufficient.
"Zero is great, but what the people really need is a rent rollback," said one tenant.
The board has voted for a rent freeze just three times in its history, all under Mayor Bill de Blasio, in 2015, 2016 and in 2020, and even then, it was only for one-year leases.
The board's decision on Thursday night raises the possibility of an unprecedented two-year freeze.
It was Mayor Zohran Mamdani's signature issue in his campaign, and he later appointed six members of the nine-member board.
After the vote, the mayor struck an even-handed tone.
"I'm encouraged," he said. "To see the board taking seriously the data around affordability, operating expenses, and the pressures facing both tenants and small property owners."
"It just doesn't make sense to be putting the burden and the cost onto the people who already don't have the money for it," said Sumathy Kumar, who lives in Bed-Stuy.
But Athineos says a rent freeze will make it harder for landlords to maintain their buildings.
"In the end, when we can't afford to do maintenance and maintain our buildings in the right way, the tenants are the ones that ultimately suffer," he said.
The board will now hold four public hearings. Whether New York gets a rent freeze will be not be known before a final vote on June 25.
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